Never said India lost to England deliberately in 2019 World Cup: Ben Stokes angry after ex-Pak cricketer's controversial remarks

Ben Stokes's comments that India's batting during the 2019 World Cup game vs England baffled him have added fuel to allegations that Virat Kohli's team deliberately lost the match in order to keep Pakistan out of the tournament.

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Owner report.

Stokes was baffled by India's batting approach during the 2019 World Cup encounter vs England (Reuters)

HIGHLIGHTS

• Ben Stokes had written that MS Dhoni appeared more intent on singles than sixes
• Stokes was shocked by Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's batting too
• Sikander Bakht has claimed that India deliberately lost the match to England

England all-rounder Ben Stokes's comments in his book about India's batting approach during the 2019 World Cup match vs England have created an online storm. Former Pakistan bowler Sikander Bakht has claimed that Stokes has written in his book that India lost to England deliberately to remove Pakistan from the World Cup. Stokes has categorically denied these allegations.

When a Twitter user asked where to find Stokes's comments regarding the same, the player himself responded by writing: "You won’t find it cause I have never said it... it’s called "twisting of words" or "click bait".

Earlier Bakht had tweeted an old video of himself claiming India knowingly lost to England while reasserting that his prediction was vindicated by Stokes's book.

Stokes was baffled by India's run-chasing strategy during their World Cup game last year in which he found Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's approach "mystifying" and saw "no intent" from Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the run chase.

In fact, Stokes called skipper Virat Kohli's complaints about the "59 metre" boundary on one side "whingeing".

It was the game at Birmingham, where India were comprehensively beaten by 31 runs failing to chase England's massive score of 337 for 7 last year.

In his new book 'On Fire' published by Headline Books and distributed by Hachette India, Stokes analysed each of England's games in the World Cup.

"Arguably, the way MS Dhoni played when he came in with 112 runs needed from 11 overs was even stranger. He appeared more intent on singles than sixes. Even with a dozen balls remaining, India could still have won.

"...there was little or no intent from him (Dhoni)

 or his partner Kedar Jadhav. To me, while victory is still possible you always go for broke.

"The way Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli played was mystifying. I know that we bowled brilliantly well during this period, but the way they went about their batting just seemed bizarre.

"They allowed their team to get so far behind the game. They showed no desire to put any pressure back onto our team, content instead to just drift along, a tactic that was clearly playing into our hands," Stokes wrote in his soon-to-be-published book.